What Time Does My Team Draft?

Late. Your team's first round draft pick will be late. Attempting a return to normalcy, I'll be watching the first round with a couple of friends. Which, on the East Coast, means an eight pm start time (that's when the draft starts, tbd on the wings and beer).

Fans of the hapless Jaguars and Jets need not concern themselves with this issue, but as a Chiefs fan, my wait will be long. How late must I put off sleep to immediately learn of a personnel decision to complain of the following month? If my calculations are correct (a rarity), 1:10 in the morning. Brutal.

While the draft is slated to start at 8:00 pm, the question is whether that's the official time Jacksonville goes on the clock or if we're subjected to the pomp and circumstance of Draft Day first. Teams are allowed 10 minutes to make their picks in round one, and universally utilize their entire time allotment (the first couple picks being the potential exception). So assuming Jacksonville submits their pick at 8:10 in the evening (Eastern), and we roll every ten minutes after, we get to learn the next rookie to win a Super Bowl (calling it) a full five hours from then. 

Sorry work, but my ability to be in on time Friday, April 30 is a hard maybe.

Pick	Team	Pick Due By
1	Jacksonville Jaguars	20:10
2	New York Jets	20:20
3	San Francisco 49ers (from HOU through MIA)	20:30
4	Atlanta Falcons	20:40
5	Cincinnati Bengals	20:50
6	Miami Dolphins (from PHI)	21:00
7	Detroit Lions	21:10
8	Carolina Panthers	21:20
9	Denver Broncos	21:30
10	Dallas Cowboys	21:40
11	New York Giants	21:50
12	Philadelphia Eagles (from SF through MIA)	22:00
13	Los Angeles Chargers	22:10
14	Minnesota Vikings	22:20
15	New England Patriots	22:30
16	Arizona Cardinals	22:40
17	Las Vegas Raiders	22:50
18	Miami Dolphins	23:00
19	Washington Football Team	23:10
20	Chicago Bears	23:20
21	Indianapolis Colts	23:30
22	Tennessee Titans	23:40
23	New York Jets (from SEA)	23:50
24	Pittsburgh Steelers	0:00
25	Jacksonville Jaguars (from LAR)	0:10
26	Cleveland Browns	0:20
27	Baltimore Ravens	0:30
28	New Orleans Saints	0:40
29	Green Bay Packers	0:50
30	Buffalo Bills	1:00
31	Kansas City Chiefs	1:10
32	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1:20

‘Defund the Police’ Concerns

(Editor's Note: Choosing this topic to write my first entry in over a year is stupid and probably going to block me from some future dream job. I should subtitle this something awful like, "A Few Bad Apples May Spoil the Bunch, but We Still Need Apples to Make Apple Pie!")

While ‘Defunding the Police’ has become the popular action to cry/thing to decry across the nation (it's simultaneously edgy and en vogue), most rational people agree that it’s a bad slogan because at their core, most people don’t believe in eliminating police departments. Some sort of explanation is then necessary to relay the individual’s nuanced interpretation of the slogan (which probably differs from the next person, who may sincerely believe in abolishing the police). Slogans that need clarification are bad slogans, which is why it appears Joe Biden’s advisers said until the movement gets it together, he won’t back defunding the police. (Honestly, as he caters to the white suburbs, it's unlikely he'll ever back it). Anyway, the basic consensus on meaning appears to include a reduction in forces while providing a corresponding increase in social workers and other professionals to handle some of the duties police officers are currently tasked with.

Is this a good idea? Probably in theory, but I have little faith in how it would be executed. I’m sure the majority of cops would love to get bullshit such as marriage mediation off their plate, and generally don’t enjoy responding to overdose calls. And there’s some good from diversification in how societal ills are treated – the same argument for why we have family court, drug court, and a bifurcation of civil and criminal processes.


Are Social Workers Effective Replacements?

Here’s a Twitter user's perspective, who I have decided speaks for everyone:

You want to know what defunding the police means?

It means that Wendy’s could have called a tow truck instead of 911 and Rayshard Brooks would be alive tonight or a social worker could have been called if they suspected he was under the influence and/or homeless.

— WashSpinDry (@spin_wash) June 15, 2020

This in response to the police shooting of a black man in a Atlanta Wendy’s parking lot. And while an amount of investigation remains necessary, the basic facts appear to be:

• Rayshard Brooks fell asleep in the Wendy’s drive-thru; 
• Two responding officers administered a sobriety test, which he failed; 
• In attempting to arrest Brooks, he resisted arrest, stole an officer’s Taser, and ran from the officers; 
• While running away, Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officers, at which point one officer fired two shots that struck Brooks in the back and killed him

The situation sucks, and I have little desire in speculating or ruminating on how it should have been handled. And maybe if a social worker and tow truck driver were deployed no one would have died. Indeed, it's likely everyone would still be alive. But it's not guaranteed - consider the alternative scenario: social worker determines Brooks is intoxicated and shouldn’t be driving. Tow truck attempts to hook up to car. Brooks decides he doesn’t want his car towed (who does?), and assaults one or both people to get his car unhooked before driving off. Drunk.

Now you have 1-2 people who have been assaulted, and a drunk driver back on the road. And if not Mr. Brooks that night, then a Mr. Smith, or Mr. Jones, or Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. White, etc. Because this same thing happens every night across the country. And yes, I’m 100% in favor of criminalizing the act of driving after getting so wasted you’re apt to pass out in the drive-thru. 

Before viscerally reacting, understand that this doesn't serve as a counterargument to "driving drunk and resisting arrest is not a capital offense in America." A discussion should be had as to how the criminal system subsequently handles the case, but that behavior gets people killed, and is unacceptable. Those are my values.

So maybe there are instances in which law enforcement officers aren’t the individuals best equipped to respond. But they often are when the law needs to be enforced. And they’re infinitely better equipped to respond if a situation escalates. Is the presence of police officers more likely to cause the situation to escalate? Do they cause the escalation? Now there's where the nuance of ‘Defund the Police’ movement can serve a purpose.

Negative Externalities

There’s a world wherein we just slash police department budgets and redirect funding for social services, homeless outreach, affordable housing, drug treatment, etc. That world could suck for black Americans. NPR’s Planet Money did an excellent piece on this yesterday, outlining how police departments often utilize ticketing to subsidize their expenses:

The easy example of this was Ferguson, Missouri, where black citizens were hammered with 85 percent of tickets (95 percent of jaywalking tickets). We know which cars get targeted (I remember being pulled over in my shitty G6 with a busted bumper and scraped rear door because “my license plate wasn’t properly illuminated.” And then getting an unnecessary field sobriety test. I have a sneaky suspicion that doesn’t happen to Audi drivers). And we know which drivers get targeted. Squeezing departments without removing the incentive to increase ticketing will only increase the economic pain on those least able to afford it.

Someone making minimum wage can’t pay a $500 fine (let alone the damn court fees once a sympathetic Traffic Court judge drops the ‘no turn signal’ charge). Not that person is under additional stress and more likely to do something erratic. Like crime to pay their bills. Or abuse substances to temporarily escape their situation. Or take out their frustration on a domestic partner. Or child. Or all of the above. Poverty is a cycle that we do little to help the lowest rung escape from. Incentivizing additional burdens is a bad idea.

Traffic fine reform is another issue ripe for reform - probably before defunding the police - but make no mistake: in a vacuum, defunding the police by reducing general fund support will absolutely result in an increase in special revenue funds by way of increased traffic tickets. And the burden will fall disproportionately on minorities and low-income drivers.

As an aside, quotas suck. No officer wants to face a minimum number of tickets (though each accepts the task with a different degree of willingness). Quotas drive unnecessary wedges between officers and the communities they're supposed to serve. Budgetary pressures incentivize quotas.

My Alternative Prescription?

Not sure, but I’m not so disillusioned to believe I can fix institutionalized problems that will take years (and honestly, decades) to fully address with some simple budget amendments. Sometimes incrementalism is bullshit. Sometimes it’s necessary. We can’t create utopia in six months, but we can make 2021 better. Maybe just make everyone unhappy by doubling police pay in your city and see if that doesn't help recruit/retain the best employees, using a massive property tax increase to pay for it? 

COVID-?? Symptoms?

For record-keeping purposes in the highly unlikely it proves informative someday. Typing this one week after initial onset of symptoms, so caveats re: accuracy abound.

Background medical information: 
Susceptible to strep (potentially relevant to initial response). It's just something I come down with occasionally, typically exacerbated by lack of rest and accompanying impact on body's immune system.
Chronic sinusitis - For about six years have followed a medicinal regimen of morning sinus irrigation of salt and 0.5 mg liquid Budesonide, evening dose of Flonase. Admittedly only conduct irrigation approximately five times/week, but consistent with daily Flonase usage. Have been declared a candidate for surgery to address this, but have not pursued as am largely asymptomatic (albeit I've lacked sense of smell for years with diminished sense of taste; experience onset of sinus headaches approximately once/year, particularly exacerbated when flying - presumably caused by cabin pressure changes. In extreme cases, cocktail of antibiotics and Prednisone are very effective at combating headaches).
Allergies - I experience mild seasonal allergy symptoms, and would rank my symptoms around the bottom 25 percentile. Last fall we moved to a new house 2.5 miles from our prior house, potentially introducing a new allergen environment. I went through the allergy test battery about six years ago and no plant exposures reacted more than mild. While the onset of spring is causing plants to bloom, I assume the impact on my body is marginal at most.

Context: 
Fitness: while not in amazing shape, have been following a running regimen the past three months. Four days before any symptoms, ran 12 miles at between 7:00 and 7:30/mile. Two days before symptoms, ran easy four miles at around 7:30/mile. Both runs came easy, no indication of irregular stress.
Physical stressers: in conducting budget work for the NY Senate, awoke at 4 am Monday morning for work and did not leave office until Wednesday evening, achieving only sporadic sleep and leaving self susceptible to experiencing sickness not uncommon when body is stressed from tiredness.
Leading Indicators never experienced a cough. I don't own a thermometer, but at no point did I feel as though I was running a temperature or experience chills

Day 1 of potential symptoms (Wednesday, April 1): Onset of sore throat in the afternoon, progressing throughout the day. Leave work around 7 pm and immediately sleep for three hours at home. No other symptoms.

Day 2 (Thursday, April 2): Sore throat worsens, unable to communicate. Moderate congestion. No other symptoms. Only six hours of sleep overnight, as additional budget work coming in.

Day 3 (Friday, April 3): Sore throat present but waning, suggesting I just needed a good night's rest. Moderate congestion. No other symptoms.

Day 4 (Saturday, April 4): Sore throat almost entirely gone. Experiencing fatigue for first time. Slept approximately 11 hours. Took dog to golf course, ate lunch, and walked approximately one mile. Slight tightness* in chest develops towards end of walk. Went back home and slept another three hours. Entirely possible the past week's lack of sleep finally caught up with me. However, chest was still tight upon awaking from nap. Went into self-quarantine at this point in unfinished bedroom at other side of house, out of abundance of caution. Pursuing isolation felt very precautionary, as breathing issues only mild. Congestion now only mild.

Day 5 (Sunday, April 5): Chest slightly tighter. Similar feeling to broken ribs. Activity such as climbing stairs or doing 10 push ups difficult to recovery from. Congestion back to moderate.

Day 6 (Monday, April 6): Chest tighter. Worst when waking in the morning. Can go an hour without noticing, but other times it's constant. When irrigating nose, the most productive expulsion of mucus I have ever experienced. High in quantity and viscosity. Despite only mild to moderate congestion (I probably blow my nose 10-15 times/day), the shit that's not draining is incredible. My body is ineffective in discharging mucus (see above: chronic sinusitis), so weighing the lack of congestion versus what's actually being produced. Was unable to fall asleep until around two, though not sure if it was connected to anything.

Day 7 (Tuesday, April 7): More intense chest pain in the morning. Feels like entire rib caged is bruised. Particularly the sternum. Previously used the word 'tightness' to describe sensation, but graduating to 'pain.' Breathing ability is akin to having a cinch around my chest and tightened.

Attempted light yoga prior to bed (my lower back sucks from just sitting in a beanbag chair or lying in bed all day, so I needed the stretching. Plus I'm antsy from this goddamn room while it's 65° outside.) Was able to complete 15 minutes, but it kind of sucked at the end due to chest tightness. Still feel better than when I woke up in the morning. Nose irrigation is again massively productive. Haven't experienced anything like this in my life before. Tiny bit of blood in stool - could be the result of emotional stress, as this has happened before.

Day 8 (Wednesday, April 8): Chest pain slightly less than prior day, closer to return to the sensation of tightness rather than pain. Hoping that I've plateaued/am over the hump and recovering.

Day 9 (Thursday, April 9): Continued improvement, chest tightness continues to alleviate. Nose irrigation results in "normal" production of mucus. Following an incident with the dog that involved him vomiting everywhere, ventured outside late in the evening to walk him two blocks and expunge the rest of the badness from his system. Fine the first half - some tightness in chest upon turning around to walk home. Previously neglected to mention dryness, but could be relevant. Cannot recall when (probably Monday, Day 6), began having very chapped lips. Bottom lip splitting open on Day 8. Also have extremely dry, itchy skin. This despite drinking copious amounts of fluids (≥ 32 oz of water daily, plus 1-2 mugs of tea). Have been taking longer than average hot showers which could contribute to skin dryness, but chapped lips are very out of character, not something I typically contend with in the winter.

Day 10 (Friday, April 10): No noticeable improvement from the prior day, chest tightness not improved. However, because symptoms are largely diminished, any improvements from here on out with likely be marginal. Two hurdles left to clear: 1. no chest tightness when not in motion (feels like I'm closing in on this goal); 2. no chest tightness after activity (absent dramatic improvement, I assume this doesn't come for another week). Had a conversation on the phone for about ten minutes and was out of breath by the end of it.

Day 11 (Saturday, April 11): Will likely be doing only sporadic updates, if any, this point forward. Improvement is marginal everyday, and I assume there'll just be a slight bit greater ease of breathing everyday until I'm good again. Have tickle with my heart (if that sounds ambiguous, exactly, because I can't really describe it).

Saturday, April 18: Went for a jog today. Just two slow, easy miles. Feels like I'm training at an altitude of 10,000 feet. My heart sucks.

Sunday, April 25: Jogging every other day. Got almost four miles. Assuming there's not a second round, I've fully kicked this thing and am just trying to recover back to the physical fitness level I was at a month ago.

*I differentiate b/t chest tightness versus shortness of breath, which I'd characterize as such: Shortness of breath is when you sprint up stairs or try to run a mile fast. There is no restriction to breathing, the lungs are just being forced to work harder to overcome oxygen depletion from exertion (as my limited grasp of physiology understands it). The chest tightness I have is more akin to lightly jogging a mile but the lungs being unable to increase oxygen intake. The nuance may seem peculiar, but it's markedly different. As opposed to forcing the lungs to work harder to perform their necessary function (shortness of breath), it's like there's a governor on them so that they can't perform the function to their maximum efficiency (tightness). Possibly like trying to breath in atmosphere with a low ratio of oxygen (frankly I'm not interested in locking myself in an airtight container and waiting until I deplete enough oxygen to do a compare/contrast).

The first week of sickness I assumed that the primary symptoms (sore throat and congestion) and lack of symptoms typically associated with COVID 19 (dry cough, fever) meant there was basically zero chance I was experiencing the coronavirus, particularly in light of the lack of sleep. I had probably just come down with some cold while my body's defenses were weakened, even though the job often requires greater sleep deprivation and I come out the other end just fine.

The breathing issues have caused me to turn a 180°. While it's entirely possible I've contracted some other lower respiratory infection, at this point I'm just assuming I'm a carrier. We'll see whenever they can get a test to market measuring immunity. I'm thankful my lungs are in decent shape though - otherwise this past week would've suuuucked.

June 16: ten mile run today. Absent sudden stroke, all signs indicate full recovery and lung function at same level as it was three months ago (I hope). I'm signed up to run a marathon in December. It's a good goal.

July 12: 15 mile run. Feel great. However, got the anti-body test last week and it came back negative. Three possibilities: test didn't work (testing accuracy still an issue in the US); have already lost immunity (increasing evidence that this is an issue); or I never had it and am just a big baby.

On Elite College Admissions

The college admissions offices at several elite institutions were rocked, shocked, and supinely mocked this week as the FBI revealed a widespread conspiracy involving over 50 rich parents buying their children's way into college. To which I say: meh.

Obviously this is something that shouldn't happen. It's unfair to the kids that actually earned their way into Georgetown and USC, when the student sitting next to them had someone else take their SAT exam and the rowing coach was bought off to 'recruit' them (just kidding, these kids aren't actually going to class - they'll buy their grades just like they bought their acceptance letters). Then again, life isn't fair.

I'm not saying life shouldn't be fair, it's just that it's not. Donald Trump probably shouldn't have been able to attend an Ivy League university, but a massive donation from Fred Trump coincidentally preceded his son's transfer from Fordham to UPenn. Because that's how the ultra rich have always done it. You buy a building, and secure posterity's ability to also attend such schools.

The big problem is that these people didn't have Fred Trump money, so they couldn't engage in honest graft and had to resort to smaller, under the table bribes. These remain a no-no in today's society - institutions may be bought openly, but it's a scandal if it's done in private. Sorry if I don't see much more than semantics.

You know what's also unfair? That these kids had every opportunity to get into great private schools in the first place. They grew up in homes absent food insecurity, so there was no distraction caused by hunger in elementary school. Their classrooms were well-staffed with excellent teachers and full of students with similarly successful and likely educated parents. They had every opportunity to learn and had access to the resources that would boost their chances of college admittance. And, when they were accepted to college, they could go because their parents had the money to pay the tuition.

There may be a scandal in this story, but the anger is probably misplaced. Everyone hates these parents for doing what a bunch of other people would do if given the chance. They just don't have the chance.

(insert final rant about economic mobility or something because why not)

(follow rant with some weird defense of capitalism, because apparently we don't believe in capitalism in 2019?)

(poorly formed conclusion)

I Feel Bad for Steve King

All he did was get in trouble for the same thing he's been allowed to do for years.